Surreal 'boats-on-wheels' race across the Nevada Desert

Is it a boat? Is it a car? In fact, it's a little bit of both. Welcome to the Landsailing World Championships, held in July in the sweltering Nevada desert.

Over 170 "sailors" from 15 countries converged on the spectacular dried lake-bed of Smith Creek for this year's competition.

"It just amazes me how flat this place is," says racer Lester Robertson. "It just goes on seemingly forever. I really love the beauty and the solitude. And you get to go out on boats, wind-powered boats that just wail along."

Situated around 30 miles from the tiny settlement of Austin, Smith Creek appears like a scorched land that time forgot.

Over the past 40 years, the event has evolved from an amateur pastime with pioneers trying out their models to a world sport with influences from gliding, motorsport, sailing and even the America's Cup.

Landsailing enthusiasts stay up late into the evening, tinkering with their speedy designs. "The amount of time you spend in what I call a 'dirt boat coma' with a glazed look in your eye, thinking about your next great innovation and hoping it works..." says racer John Eisenlohr.

The most advanced craft can hit speeds of 100 miles per hour.

In 2009, Briton Richard Jenkins broke the speed record, hitting 126 mph in his Greenbird machine (pictured), not far from Smith Creek. He spent a decade working on the design, saying: "I can't believe in hindsight that I actually spent so much time trying to do it. I guess I was kind of focused on the result, and didn't really think about the time or the place."

Landsailing isn't just restricted to deserts. Here, enthusiasts test out their designs on a European beach in the 1970s.

Here British youngsters in the 1950s go for a spin in their makeshift vehicle -- an old pram with a raincoat for a sail.

"Smith Creek is a starkly beautiful place," says Russ Foster. "The cloud formations and the beautiful sky are almost something out of a painting. At other times it can be terribly dusty and miserable."

Over 170 "sailors," from countries as far flung as Chile and New Zealand, converge on the dramatic landscape that stretches flat as a mirror beneath the sweltering summer sun.

"When we first came through the mountains, we saw these beautiful big rocks, and the west end of the lake was just glass smooth," competitor Rod Eicholz says of the spectacular setting.

"So smooth you can actually see the reflection of your boat on the dirt," adds fellow racer Kurt Smiley.

Situated around 30 miles from the closest town of Austin -- which has a population of just 200 -- Smith Creek appears like a scorched land on the edge of the world.

And when the temperamental wind whips up the sand, forcing spectators to shield their eyes and run for cover, you'd be forgiven for thinking these otherworldly sailboats were ghost ships on the horizon.

Desert inventors

Competitors arrive in campervans loaded with their desert-racing machines, and work late into the evening tinkering with their speedy designs.

"You know what a sailboat is? Well it's kind of like that, but you're racing on dirt, with wheels," racer John Eisenlohr says matter-of-factly.

"The amount of time you spend in what I call a 'dirt boat coma' with a glazed look in your eye, thinking about your next great innovation and hoping it works..." he trails off with a faraway look.

Fast and furious racing in the Nevada desert.

Walter Carels

In their everyday lives, these enthusiasts might be farmers or plumbers who work on their designs in garages back home.

The boats differ dramatically according to the class they're racing in -- from basic buggies with sails, to something resembling a futuristic bobsled with wheelie arms extended either side.

"Just after the start, you push, you run, you jump into the yacht, and you lay down completely, trying to be the lowest you can," explains racer J.P Krischer.

It's like Mother Nature has her foot on the throttleRuss Foster

"You're hunkered down in the boat, you get nice and low, and you just get a beautiful view of the horizon," says fellow competitor Lester Robertson.

The high-tech designs have come a long way from the 1970s, when adventurous land sailors tested out their hybrid designs everywhere from European beaches to North African deserts.